Chain-poise variable-weight balance



Feb. 4, 1941. w. HEUSSER CHAIN-POI SE VARIABLE WEIGHT BALANCE OriginalFiled Aug. 4, 1934 II I '1 II III Ill INVENTOR n? fisuaszle, W

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CHAIN-POISEVARIABLE-WEIGHT BALANCE Wilfrid Heusser, Salt Lake City, tah

Continuation of application Serial No. 738,488, August 4, 1934. Thisapplication February 15, 1939, Serial. No. 256,531

16 Claims. (Cl. 265-60) This invention relates to a chain-poise, varitheoscillating system of the balance has been able-weight balance of thetype where one. porefiected, at which time the connection. between tionof the chain-poise is raised or lowered by the chain supportand thescale member is again means of a rotatable member, such as a drum.rigidly established. Without further fussing the The principal objectsof the invention are: balance isready for. weighing.

First. To greatly simplify the operation of The present application is acontinuation of equilibrating a balance, and more particularly a onefiled by me August 4, 1934., Serial No. 738,488. precision balance. Inthe drawing, which illustrates one desirable Second. To render weighingoperations much embodiment of this invention:

more rapid and convenient than has heretofore Fig. 1 represents afragmentary front eleva- 10 been possible. tion, partially in section,minor portions being Third. To simplify the balance mechanism, brokenaway for convenience; thereby also substantially reducing its cost. Fig.2, a side elevation corresponding to Fig. 1.,

Prior balances in which chains are used as this view being largely insection, taken on the weights are exemplified in my U. S. Patent No.line 2-2 in Fig. 1; 15

1,867,008, and in the U. S. patents to Jacobs, Fig. 3, a fragmentaryfront elevation, partly No. 1,281,968 and to Gattoni, No. 1,964,349. Inin section, showing another construction; and,

the prior devices a suspended weight chain has Fig. l, a fragmentaryfront elevation showing one end thereof attached to the oscillatingsysstill another construction. 0 term of a balance, and the other end toa rotat- Referring tov the drawing, the numeral in. in-

able supporting member, both equilibrating and dicates the supportingcolumn of a precision weighing being accomplished by varying thebalance. This column may carry a bracket l2, length of the suspendedchain. The rotatable upon which may be supported an edge member chainsupport is fixed in operative axial relal4 forming a rigid part of anoscillating beam tion to a rotatable scale means which. registers [5.The beam may also have a pointer l6 which 25 varying lengths ofsuspended chain. In aforeregisters on a stationary equilibrating scalell, mentioned balances the chain is wound up or all in the customarymanner. The oscillating unwound as the case may be, by rotating the beammay carry an adjustable auxiliary-edge chain support, and in each priorinstance, the member I8, from which may be suspended one scale member,being axially fixed relative to the portion IQ. of a poising chain 20,as usual. The 0 chain support, is simultaneously and unavoidably freeend of the poising chain, instead of being rotated. This means that inequilibrating a balwound on the relatively large indicating wheel, ance,the scale members must be rotated coas is the case in the device of theaforementioned extensively with the chain support. Therefore, patent, iswound on a relatively small rotatable the initial point of reference onthe scale, such as drum 2|, this drum being rigidly mounted on a 35 thezero point, seldom comes in the same place, shaft 24, which latter inturn, is yieldably roand almost invariably is located out of contatablein a sleeve or quill 25. In order to provenient range of vision of thebalance user. In vide this yieldable rotation, a disk 26 may be order tokeep the initial reference point within fixed on the shaft, and a springmember 21 may convenient limits, the range of rotation of the beinterposed so as to have its reaction between 40 weight scale-must berestricted accordingly. This the quill. and the disk 28, while anoperating always involves tedious and time-consuming wheel 28.fast onthe quill, may be a. convenience manipulation of small weights so. astobring the provided for rotating the latter. final equilibration by meansof the weight chain, The quill may be journaled in a bearing 23,

within the stated restricted limits. which latter may have a flange orother member 45 By means of the invention, the initial refer- 30 forfastening the bearing to a wall, for exence point of the scale means islocated in the ample, the back wall 3| of a balance casing. propervisual range and remains so permanently. A rod 32, which may have itslower end In equilibrating a balance, the movable scale threaded so asto engage a threaded opening member, which normally is axially fixedrelative in. the stationary member 29, may be provided for 50 to thechain support, is set in coincidence with clamping the quill in place inits journal. The this point and is so held temporarily. Meanrod 32 maypass through the top 34 of the balwhile, the chain support is loosenedfrom the ance casing and be provided with a knurled movable scale memberand independently rothumbnail 35 within convenient reach of the tateduntil the desired point of equilibration of operator. 55

Rigidly mounted on the quill, is a member 36, which may be in the formof a wheel having a plane face circumferentially graduated to pro vide ascale adapted to indicate unit weights cor- 5 responding to unit lengthsof the chain. In

registry with the wheel 35, so as to be conveniently read by theoperator, is another graduated scale 31, for example a vernier, which isnormally stationary, and which may be supported on an 10 arm 38. The arm38 may be adjustable angularly with respect to the axis of the wheel 36and to this end may consist of two branches extending from a split hubadjustably clamped on the outside of the journal hub 29, by means of ascrew 39.

In using this device, the operator first sees to it that the quill 25 isfreely rotatable in its bearing, which means that the lower extremity ofthe rod 32 is out of engagement with the 20 quill, The movableindicating scale may then be brought into the proper registry with thestationary indicating scale, by means of the oper at-ing wheel 28. Inthis position, the indicating 5 scale member may be firmly held byscrewing 2 down the rod 32. The next step is for the operator to takehold of a small handle 411 fixed in the disk 26, and by means of thishandle apply enough force to overcome the friction of spring 2! and toturn the disk in one direction or the other, thereby increasing ordiminishing the length of chain portion l9, as the case may require, tobring the oscillating parts of the balance into equilibrium. The rod 32is now unscrewed sufficiently to release the quill, after which thequill and drum shaft again move as a unit, and the balance is ready forweighing.

In weighing, the chain 20 is raised or lowered by the act of turning theoperating wheel 28, since the drum 2! and the operating wheel nor- 40mally move as one, due to the frictional contact between certain oftheir associated members, as

hereinbefore explained.

In Fig. 2, the operating wheel is shown at the back of the balancecasing, but Where this arrangement is not convenient, the operatingwheel may be placed at the side of the casing, as shown in Fig. 3. Inthis construction, the drum 5| is disposed substantially in the positionthat the drum 2|, Fig. 1, would occupy if revolved 50 in a horizontalplane through an angle of 90 de grees around the chain 20 as axis.

The quill 55 corresponds to the quill 2-5: the shaft 54 to the shaft 24,and the bearing 59 to the bearing 29, while the flange 50 is similar to55 the flange 3D, The operating wheel 28 in Fig. 3, has the sameappurtenant parts 25, 21 and 4| as are shown in Fig. 2. In the case ofFig. 3,

however, the flange 69 is fastened to the side wall 33 of the balancecasing, instead of to the back 60 wall 3!, as in the case of Fig. 2.Also in Fig. 3,

a wheel 66 is used instead of a wheel 35 as in Fig. 1. In the case ofwheel 66, a cylindrical face is graduated instead of a plane face.Similarly,

the indicating member 61 in Fig. 3 is graduated 65 on the arc facethereof, instead of on one of its plane faces. The indicating member 61may be provided with a hub 68 clamped on the outside of journal sleeve59 and be a counterpart of the arm 38 in Fig. 2. The method of using thedevice of Fig. 3 will be understood from what has already beenexplained.

In Fig. 4 is shown the possibility of making the weight-indicating scale45 stationary, and the Vernier indicating scale 46 movable. For

75 this purpose, the scale 46 may form part of an arm 41, which ismounted for movement on a quill 55 in a manner similar to that shown inFig. 2, the only difference being that the arm 4! with its scalereplaces the wheel 36.

From this it will be understood that so far as 5 the operation goes, itmakes no difference whether the weight scale is movable and the Vernierindicating scale stationary, or vice versa.

In general, it may be noted that the drum mounting is concentric with,but separate from, the movable-indicator mounting, and that theoperative connection between the two is in the nature of a clutch,preferably a friction clutch. Furthermore, the friction clutch ispreferably of a type where there is a yielding or slippage betweencertain of the clutch parts when a predetermined resistance is overcome.Thus, the movable indicating member normally has motion in unison withthe movable member supporting one portion of the chain, but at certaintimes may have motion independent of the movable chain support.

Since the movable chain support may have a radius much smaller than theradius of the movable indicating member, the relative degree ofprecision of the balance is increased.

In the present instance the axes of shaft 24 and the quill 25 are notonly concentric but are also substantially coextensive with each other,and while this may be preferred, it is not necessarily restrictive.

The friction clutch means may be varied widely, since the parts 26, 21and 28 are merely illustrative of clutching and declutching meansarranged to render the chain-moving means selectively separable from theindicating and registering means, the latter including such parts asscales 3 6, .31, 45, 46, '66 and 61. The drums or chain supports 2| and5| act in the capacity \of carrier arms and are broadly illustrative of40 means exerting force moments centered in the axes of any suitablerotative means which in the present instance include the respectiveshafts 24 and 54, the force moments being the result of the gravity ofthe suspended chain portion. The weight chain represents any flexiblemeans which has suii'icient relaxation to hang freely from its supports.

No claim is made for a weight-chain, a. winding drum or indicatingmeans-per se, but only as these elements are combined to produce thenovel results hereinbefore set forth.

It is to be particularly noted in the Jacobs Patent No. 1,258,009,hereinbefore mentioned, that a weighing-chain drum is frictionally heldimmovable on a spindle which at the same time carries a rigidly mountedgraduated dial, so that it is never possible in a weighing operation torotate the drum separately from the dial.

For convenience of explanation, the foregoing description refers tospecific embodiments of the invention, but any reasonable changes may bemade there-in without departing from the terms of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A variable-weight balance, including a chain poise, a winding drumfor the chain, a shaft on which the winding drum is fast, a quill inwhich the shaft is rotatable, a bearing in which the quill is rotatable,an indicating member fast on the quill, and means whereby the shaft maybe caused to rotate through 360 degrees or more of arc in unison withthe quill, and inunlimited independent angular relation thereto.

2. A chain-poise, variable-weight device, in-

cluding in combination, a chain poise, a drum operable to lift oneportion of the chain, a shaft on which said drum is fast, a quill inwhich said shaft is rotatable, an indicating member fast on the quilland spaced axially apart from the drum, a bearing in which said quill isrotatable, a friction member fast on said shaft, and a spring memberadapted to exert the pressure whereby the said shaft shall be caused torotate in unison with the said quill until a certain frictionalresistance is overcome.

3. A chain-poise variable-Weight device, including in combination, arotatable indicating member, a chain weight, a rotatable winding memberfor the chain weight, a mounting for the rotatable indicating membercentered on the axis of the said winding member and a clutch operativebetween the winding member and the said mounting.

4. A chain-poise variable-weight device, including in combination, arotatable indicating member having a mounting, a chain mounting inregistry therewith, a clutch connecting the chain mounting to themounting of the rotatable indicating member, a clamp operative to keepthe rotatable indicating member temporarily in a locked position, andmeans whereby motion may be imparted to the chain mounting in the lockedposition of the mounting of the rotatable indicating member.

5. A chain-poise variable-weight balance, including in combination, anoscillating system having a chain poise, an indicating member operativeto actuate said chain poise, a second indicating member with which thefirst-mentioned indicating member may be brought into a registeringposition, a lock operable to hold the firstmentioned indicating memberin the said registering position, and an equilibrating mechanismoperative to equilibrate the said oscillating system while thefirst-mentioned indicating member is locked; the said lock beingoperable to release the first-mentioned indicating member from theregistering position after the said equilibration has been accomplished.

6. A chain-poise variable-weight balance, including in combination, anoscillating system having a chain-poise, a rotatable drum on which oneend of the chain poise is wound, an indicating member normally operableto rotate with the drum, a second indicating member with which thefirst-mentioned indicating member may be brought into a registeringposition, means operative to hold the first-mentioned indicating memberin the said registering position, and means operative to rotate the saiddrum while the first-mentioned indicating member is locked, for thepurpose of equilibrating the said oscillating system; the saidindicating-memberholding-means being operative to cause the release ofthe first-mentioned indicating member after the said equilibration hasbeen accomplished.

7. A chain-poise variable-weight balance, including in combination, anoscillating system, a chain-poise connected thereto, a normallystationary member having thereon a point of reference, rotatableindicating means having an initial position in registry with the saidpoint of reference, rotatable chain-supporting means in axial alignmentwith the indicating means, means effective to temporarily hold theindicating means in the said initial registering position, meansoperative to rotate the chain-supporting means so as to bring thebalance into equilibrium while the said indicating means is held in thesaid initial registering position, and means operative to cause theindicating means and the chain-supporting means to rotate togetherin'fixed angular relation to each other, after the said oscillatingsystem has been brought into equilibrium.

8. A variable-weight balance, including an oscillating system. having achain poise, a rotatable lifting member for the chain, an indicatingmember mounted for rotation, normally, in fixed unison with said liftingmember, a fixed point of reference for the indicating member, and meansfor maintaining said indicating member stationary in registry with saidfixed point of reference while said lifting member rotates duringequilibration of the balance.

9. A chain-poise variable-weight balance, including in combination, anoscillating system, a chain having one end thereof attached to theoscillating system and the other end adapted to be raised or lowered,rotatable supporting means for the said other end of the chain, anormally stationary member having :a point of reference thereon,indicating means disposed to normally rotate in unison with the saidrotatable supporting means, but capable of being temporarily heldstationary in registry with the said point of reference, the saidrotatable supporting means being meanwhile operable for the purpose ofequilibrating the oscillating system, holding means for the saidindicating means, and means for causing the indicating means and therotatable supporting means to again rotate in unison with each otherwhen the equilibrium of the oscillating system is established aforesaid.

10. A chain-poise Variable-weight device, including in combination, arotatable indicating member, a weight-chain mounting disposed incooperative relation with said indicating member, a friction clutchoperatively connecting the weight-chain mounting .and said indicatingmember to each other and being effective normally to insure unison ofmovement between the two, and means for causing a slip in the frictionclutch whereby the weight-chain mounting may be moved independently ofsaid indicating member during equilibration of the balance.

11. A chain-poise variable-weight balance, including in combination, tworotative means .concentric with each other, friction clutch meansconnecting the said rotative means to each other, scale means carried byone of the rotative means, a weighing chain suspended from the otherrotative means, and declutching means. selectively operative todisconnect the two rotative means from each other.

12. A chain-poise variable-weight balance, including in combination, aweight chain, a chain carrier rotatable to vary the length of the weightchain, a weight indicator normally rotatable together with, butselectively separable from, the chain carrier; and clutch means forselectively effecting the rotation of the weight indicator and the chaincarrier relative to each other.

13. A chain-poise variable-weight balance, including in combination, tworotatable means concentric with each other, registering means carried byone of the rotatable means; a weight chain, supporting means for thechain Weight carried by the other rotatable means, and friction clutchmeans selectively operative to cause the two said rotatable means torotate together or not to rotate together.

14. A chain-poise variable-weight balance in the clutch means to releasethe two said rotatable members from each other.

16. A chain-poise variable-weight balance, including in combination,rotatable registering means suitably siipported, other rotatableWeight-carrying means wherein the flexibleweight exerts a momentcentered in the axis of rotation thereof, the two rotatable means beingin cooperative proximity to each other, and clutch means havingmechanism to selectively connect or disconnect the two rotatable means,relative to each other.

WILFRID HEUSSER.

